Toothbrush cover



Oct. 20, 1953 v. P. SIMMONS TooTHBRusH COVER Filed March 8, 1951 INVENTOR Prm Jzmfmws QQ ATTORNEY Patentecl Oct. 20, '1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TOOTHBRUSH CGVER Verne P. Simmons, New York, N. Y.

Application March 8, 1951, Serial No. 214,519

This invention relates to a tooth brush cover and carrier and more` particularly to a tooth brush carrier having a hinged door. Y

It is an object of this invention to provide a tooth brush cover with a door that is hinged on the body of the cover and is easily opened and closed.

It is another object of this invention to provide a tooth brush cover entirely composed of a single piece of material continuously connected together.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a tooth brush cover having a hinged door in which the entire assembly is an article moulded by a single operation. I

rlhese and other objects of this invention become more apparent upon consideration of the following description taken together with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View of the tooth brush cover of this invention containing a tooth brush in normal position;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section taken on the broad dimension of the tooth brush cover of this invention with the brush end of a tooth brushv 1 claim. (oi. 15o-0.5)

Fig. 5 is another longitudinal section taken on the broad dimension of the tooth brush cover of this invention with the door shown in semi-closed :I

position in full lines and in open position in dotted lines, and

Fig. 6 is an end view of the tooth brush cover of Fig. 5 in the semi-closed position taken from the door end.

In general this invention provides a tooth brush cover having a relatively stiff yet exible side wall which is made of the same material as the door of the cover and the hinge which attaches the door to the side walls and springs the door to the open position when the door is released from the side walls. Referring to the figures, in Fig. 1 a cover IIlis shown covering the brush portion, not shown, of a tooth brush l I. The handle of the tooth brush protrudes from the cover I0 through an entrance I2 through a door I3 which closes the open end I4 of the cover lil. The cover Ii) is generally longitudinal in shape having four side walls, the open end I4 and a closed end I5 as seen in Fig. 2. If the cover ID with a tooth brush enclosed in it is rested on a surface with the tooth brush vhandle II down, a side wall I6 will be the top wall. The door I3 is hinged to this wall I6 by a hinge strip I'I. The cover I0 is provided with a pair of lugs I8 adjacent the open end I4. The lugs I8 seat in recesses i9 in the door I3. A lip 20 in front of eachrof the recesses I9 separates the recess from the vertical edge of the door I3. In closing the door I3 into theopen end I4, the lips 20 pass over the lugs I8.l The side walls of the cover I!! are sufciently resilient and the door I3 is sufficiently exible to allow the door I3 to snap in place in the open end I4.

Beneath the tooth brush,.when it is inserted in the cover Ill, a bottom wall 2i vof the cover I0 is curved to generally conform to the curvature of some tooth brush handles such as the handle I I shown and described herein. This bottom wall 2l extends beyond the open end I4 of the cover I0 to provide a tail platform 22. The door I3 has a free or outer end 23 which bears against the tail platform 22 as shown in Figs. 2 and 5. The resilient material of which the cover I0 is composed allows a friction fit between the free end 23 and the tail platform 22. The tail platform 22 extending beyond the main structure of the cover I0 has slightly more resilience than the remainder of the side walls. At the same time, the tail platform 22 has suiiicient structural rigidity to hold the free end 23 of the door I3 when the door I3 is pressed into closed position.

The door I3 has apair of side walls24 and a top wall 25. Betweenside walls 24, Vthe door yI3 has a panel 26 which closes the transverseopen end I4 of the cover I0 and in which the entrance I2 is formed. As Vcan be seen best in Fig. 1, as

. a result of the entrance I2the panel 26 extends down to the bottom of the door I3 only at each side. Referring to Fig. 2, a transverse rib 2l is shown extending vtransversely across the inner surface of the panel 26v of the door I3 immediately adjacent the entrance I2. As shown in Fig. 3, the rib 21 tapers Voi at veach side wall.24 in a spur 28. The door I3is thus provided with a transverse reinforcing rib which gives the door I3 structural rigidity in the vicinity of the entrance I2. The rib 2'I by strengthening the door I3 transversely also provides structural strength to the side walls 24 at the free end 23 where the door I3 contacts and bears against the tail platform 22. The inner corner at the lower end of each of the side walls 24 is rounded into a toe 29. These toes 29, as shown in Fig. 5, bear against the tail platform 22 in the opening and closing of the door I3. Conversely, the tail platgitudinal rigidity. The ribs 30, 33 and 34 also'act to position and support the brush part of the tooth brush II when it is inserted within the cover I0. has the secondary action of positioning and retaining the brush portion of the .tooth brush II A when the door I3 is enclosed over 'the brush por-- The rib 21 on the door I3 similarly tion. Adjacent the open end I4 of thecover Ij there is formed a raised bead 35 on the walls I6, 3I and 32. This bead 35 provides the orice around the open end I4 with resiliency and prov,

vides a support for the lugs I8. A small orifice 39 is provided in the end wall I 5.

The tooth brush cover of this invention is composed of polyethylene polymer having a molecular weight of around 20,000 and preferably between 18,000 and 24,000. The cover I@ composed of a polyethylene polymer in this range is molded into an integral unit in which the cover I is made up principally of the five walls I5, I6, 2|, 3I and 32 and to which the door I3 is attached by the hinge I1 which is both structurally integral with both the cover I0 and the door I3 and is chemically integral with the cover I0 and the door I3. By chemical integrality is meant that the molecular composition of all three parts is uniform and continuous. The cover I0, according to this invention composed of the polyethylene polymer set forth above, has iexibility and resilience. The flexibility of the cover causes a compressing pressure applied vertically on the cover to bow the walls 3I and 32. The pressure for bowing the wall 3I and 32 according to this invention lies in the range between and 50 pounds on the cover. The device of this invention may be subjected to pressures in excess of 1000 pounds per square inch and will regain and retain its original structure upon release of such a pressure.

In use, the tooth brush to be contained in the cover I0 is inserted through the open end I4. The door I3 which is normally held in an open position by the semi-rigid spring I1 is moved to the closed position. As the door I3 is moved to the closed position, the free end 23 of thedoor I3 bears against the tail platform 22 with the toes 29 camming against the tail platform 22 to provide a tight fit of the door in the open end I4. As the door I3 is pressed into the open end I4, the lips 20 on the door I3 squeeze past the lugs I8 and the lugs I8 spring into the recesses I9 on the door I3. In this position the tooth brush is securely contained within the cover I0. The brush portion is centered and retained by the ribs 21, 30, 33 and 34 and the brush end of the tooth brush handle is seated against the bottom wall 2I and the door I3 securely closes the open end of the cover I6. To open the cover a compressing pressure ranging from 20 to 50 pounds is applied vertically across the cover I0 to bow the walls 3| and 32 as shown in Fig. 6. This bowing of the walls 3I and 32 withdraws the lugs I8 from the recesses I9. Upon releaseof the door I3 from the lugs I8, the resilience of the spring l1 tends to swing the free end 23 of the A door I3 out of the open end `I4 of the cover I0.

At the same time, the compressive pressure on the walls 3I and 32 presses the bottom wall 2| and the tail platform 22 against the toes 29 causing a squeezing action which assists in popping the door I3 out of the open end I4 to open the cover for withdrawal of the tooth brush II.

The tail platform 22 extends slightly downward from the open end I4 of the cover I0. Thus, when the tooth brush I I is inserted in the tooth brush cover I0 and the door I3 is closed on it, the handle of the tooth brush II extends slightly upward in the cover I0 so that the end of the tooth brush is spaced away from the end of the end portion 36 of the bottom wall 2l by a spacing 3.1. A shank 38 of the tooth brush handle rests against the door I3 when it is in closed position.

j The door I3 may be opened by pressing upward the end of the brush portion is forced downward through spacing 31 toward the end portion 36. This motion raises the shank 38 against the free end 23 of the door I3 and pops the door I3 out of the open end I4.

It is, an advantage of this invention that a cover is provided for a tooth brush which will receive and securely hold a variety of tooth brush forms and at the same time be easily Opened. It is a further advantage of this invention that a tooth brush cover is provided in which the cover closing door is resiliently hinged on the iiexible cover by a homogeneous material so that all parts of the device are integral and homogeneous. As a result of this invention, a tooth brush can be easily inserted in the covering device and the closing door snapped in position with a simple motion. Thus positioned, the tooth brush is securelyheld in a sanitary container and is readily removable therefrom upon a moderately gentle squeezing action which pops the door open. The reinforcing ribs on the walls of the door and cover have the dual Ypurpose of providing the structure with rigidity where rigidity is desired and also positioning and securing the brush portion of the enclosed tooth brush.

The above described embodiment illustrated in the drawings isv for the purpose of the description of this invention and it is not intended that this invention be limited thereto. Various modications within the spirit of the invention are readily apparent and may be incorporated without departure therefrom. Therefore, it is intended that the scope of this invention be lmited only by the appended claim.

I claim:

A protective cover for the brushv portion of a tooth brush comprising a five walled box having integral side and bottom walls, consisting of resilient polyethylene material and being open at one end, a platform integral with a rst wall extending outwardly from said open end of said box, said platform consisting solely of polyethylene material, a closure member adapted to fit said open end of said box shiftable between open and closed positions and consisting of polyethylene material, a semi-rigid spring hinge strip composed of polyethylene material attached to and integral with a second of said walls and said closure member, said second wall being diametric to said rst wall, an outer end of said closure member being opposite to the hinged end of said closure member, toe portions on said opposite outer end bearable against and in Contact with said platform, interengaging means on the closure and the adjacent surfaces of the side walls, disengageable under a compressive force applied on said side Walls through the compression of said first and second Walls, means on said closure for maintaining said closure rigid against said compression of said side Walls and to receive said force from said platform.

VERNE P. SIMMONS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Welander Mar. 31, 1896 Harper Oct. 13, 1931 Kryder Jan. 17, 1939 Freedman Jan. 24, 1939 Fink Aug. 8, 1939 Lynch Nov. 21, 1950 

